Hunted
by ThatFangirlHybridSuperhero
Summary: AU: Modern day detectives. Regina Mills is a homicide detective still reeling from events four years earlier. Still looking over her shoulder in fear, she's shocked to hear she has a new partner, Robin Locksley. Together they work together to solve homicides, under the watchful eye of a serial killer, who will strike when they least expect. Snowing CaptainSwan (later on)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

" _Mommy!" Henry is screaming for her as Daniel's sister tries to coax him into the car, he doesn't want to go and live in Florida, he wants to stay with his Mom._

 _Regina can do nothing but shake her head and sob, "I'm so sorry Henry, you can't stay here, please understand."_

 _But Henry is 8, he doesn't understand that at all and he continues to scream and cry even when the car pulls away from the side walk and disappears into the distance, leaving Regina standing alone and afraid because even though her son is gone, the danger may never be._

 _She can't do anything about this, except solve the case, catch the man who threatened her family, who killed seven women, and try to reunite with her son._

…

*4 years later*

The constant vibrating next her face pulls Regina from the five hours sleep she's managed to get that night, after spending it finishing up the paper work to a case the captain wanted finished. She reaches out and pulls the phone to her ear.

"What?" She snaps into the device. There's an unspoken rule at the precinct that if a Detective doesn't leave their desk until after 12am, then you don't call them before 7am.

It's 5.30.

She hears Captain Lucas "Mills, I'm sorry, there's been a homicide and we need a detective down there. Swan is sick, so that leaves you."

Regina considers some witty comeback, knowing that her Captain will just laugh and tell her to get her ass out of bed, but there's something dark in the older woman's voice. "Why not Jones and Booth?"

There's a pause then, as a breath is drawn in on the other end of the call, "The victim is Milah Gold, the girl Jones had a thing with last year, and it's bad."

It's all Regina needs to hear, "Don't worry about it, I'll get straight down there, send me the address." She hangs up and pulls herself out of bed.

She grabs the first thing she sees, a cream silk shirt and a pant suit, then makes her way out to her car. A thought crosses her mind to grab a coffee but she thinks about Detective Jones finding out about this and rushing to the crime scene so decides that maybe her idea isn't such a good one, because she needs to be there to keep him away.

The homicide it turns out, happened during the early hours, and it is not as simple as she first thought. Regina remembers the woman vividly, knows that she was married, separated from her very rich and very powerful husband and had a tryst with Jones, then ran out of money and went back to said husband. Only the murder isn't a result from a domestic incident gone wrong; it's a well-planned assassination.

Regina crouches next to the medical examiner, Doctor Whale, "What have we got Victor?"

"Gunshot wound to the head, I'd say it was pretty instantaneous." He speaks quite slowly to her, as if she doesn't understand at all, and that irritates her more than the fact she had to get up at 5 in the morning.

"Yes, I see the pool of blood underneath her head, I mean what type of gun, what type of range was the shot taken from?"

The M.E. smirks at her then, "I was getting to that part." He gestures to the gaping hole in the victim's head, "It's a long range sniper bullet wound, I'd say the shot was taken from a roof over there", he gestures to the roof of the opposite houses, "Somehow I don't think this was the husband, Mr Gold doesn't strike me as a cold blooded assassin."

She hums quietly and stands up straight, "We'll see, anyone can hire a gun for money."

As if on que, Gold turns up in his black sedan in a crumpled suit, leaning heavily on his stick as he rushes towards the yellow tape. "Milah!" He yells. The he sees her body and angrily raises the stick in the air, intending to do some kind of damage to someone.

Regina quickly approaches him, arm raised upwards, "Sir, you need to calm down, I'm Detective Mills, and I'm very sorry for your loss but I'm investigating your wife's murder."

It seems to work as the man stops whatever assault he had planned and slumps onto the stick once more. She spies a uniformed officer, Officer Blanchard, standing metres away and gestures to her, "I need you to knock on doors, speak to the neighbours, can you do that?"

The woman nods enthusiastically, "Of course detective." The response is much too happy for the crime scene and bordering on inappropriate but the girl is something to do with David, one of the detectives in her unit, so she stops herself from saying anything.

She approaches Gold who is on his phone now, barking orders at his people, ordering their silence on the matter, when he sees her and hangs up. Regina grabs the notepad from her pocket and begins to question him.

When Gold starts to shuffle nervously, Regina stops, "Look, I'm sorry to be blunt but your wife is dead and we need your alibi and any information you can give us so we can catch this killer, ok?," the man nods so she continues, "Right, first of all, any problems recently with anyone you know?"

Mr Gold thinks for a second, then pales, "There was an incident, I didn't mean for it to get out of hand but—," he stops as his phone pings, a message appearing on the screen. There's a second of silence before he begins to look around nervously, backing away from the detective, "Actually, I…I don't have anything to say, please, I need to tell my son about this. I—"

He's cut off as metal makes contact with his head, red splattering Regina as the man falls backwards to the ground. He's been shot.

"Shots fired, shots fired!" Regina yells at the others. There's commotion as uniforms reach for their weapons in anticipation of a second bullet which never comes. When she looks down there's an image displayed on the dead man's phone, taken only seconds earlier. There's a caption, and when Regina takes a closer look, she realises why Gold was so afraid. _You're next,_ it says.

A new crime scene is cornered off when it becomes apparent the shooter is long gone and Regina goes to work again, questioning witnesses.

It takes only five minutes for the FBI to appear and claim the crime scene as their own. Gold was notorious for his bad behaviour, and it seems he'd got on the bad side of dangerous people.

When Regina is approached by an FBI agent and told that her unit is no longer needed on the case she just nods, "That's fine, we're happy to cooperate if you need us."

Then she leaves and heads into the precinct for the second time in 7 hours, already completely done with the day.

…

It gets slightly better when she gets to work and Nolan places a steaming mug of coffee on her desk. She looks up, a ghost of a smile on her face, "Thanks David."

He leans in, "I heard Gold's dead, and the FBI have taken over the case, that true?"

She nods, "I think whatever's going on here is a little above us, I'm glad we're away from it, I don't need the paperwork." Regina sips the coffee, only to find Detective Nolan still looking at her. "What?"

He gestures to her face, "Is it a bad time to say you have blood all over your face and shirt?" There's an apologetic tone in his voice but Regina knows the man is probably dying of amusement inside, most of the men in her squad room are immature at the best of times.

She mumbles something about going to change and heads to the locker room wishing the day to be over already. There's no spare shirt in her locker but luckily Ruby appears then and hands her a white button down. "Lucas said you needed a change of shirt, something about not wanting to give your new partner a bad impression."

"My new what?" Regina says, shock evident. She hadn't had a partner for over four years and the Captain knows exactly why. Even so, she never minded working with Swan, Nolan or even Booth when necessary, but still, she had no desire for any partner.

Ruby smiles then, "I'm sure he'll learn quickly that you have your own way of working through cases." And yes, Regina has her way of doing things but that isn't by choice. Her last partner was well before Ruby started working for them as their profiler/sketch artist, and the girl probably has no idea of what happened.

Regina sighs, "Fine, tell the captain I'll be out in twenty to meet this partner of mine, I need to wipe the blood off my face."

"Right, like she's going to give you that long, I'll tell her you'll be out in ten", Ruby turns to leave then, pausing only to say one more thing, "Give him a chance Regina, he seems like a good guy."

 _Right,_ Regina thinks, _being a good guy in this line of work gets you killed._

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this fic. I've spent a lot of time thinking and planning so hopefully I can get to the end.**

 **Feel free to leave feedback/criticism.**

 **xo**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The second she leaves the locker room, Captain Lucas spots her and beckons her over. "Detective Mills, join me in my office please?"

It's not a question, it's an order and she knows much better than to argue with the older woman.

When she finally makes her way to the office, she spots a man leaning on the edge of the desk, a smile playing on her features. She takes him in. There's no doubt he's older than any of the other brought into the unit, closer to her own age or maybe slightly older. He's tall and well-built and she can't help but think that he may be the only person in homicide who might be quicker at running than her.

He smiles at her then, blue eyes shining, "Detective Robin Locksley, pleasure to meet you." His and stretches out towards her and Regina shakes it, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Regina Mills."

The man just doesn't stop smiling, "Lovely name, I hear you're going to be my partner, looking forward to working with you!" Gosh he's so enthusiastic and happy and Regina who has had 5 hours sleep and almost been shot today doesn't want to play along.

Captain Lucas clears her throat, "I'm sure you're going to work well together, I just had a call in about a body found by the Hudson, and I'd like you to work the case."

"Yes captain", she turns to face Locksley, "We can take my car."

….

They've been driving for only a few minutes when the man begins to speak and after working alone for so long, it startles her. "Have you always worked in New York?" he asks.

She nods, "I was a uniform for the NYPD for 3 years when I turned 20, and then I made detective about 10 years ago."

"So you're 33?"

"No." she answers flatly, "35. I took a year out when I had my son." Regina regrets telling him almost immediately because now she'll get the questions about Henry and she doesn't want to answer any of them.

Robin surprises her though, "I have a son, Roland, he's 4, I had a year out when he was born, but in my situation, there wasn't another option."

"And why's that?" she asks, her own curiosity peaking.

"My wife died shortly after his birth, car accident, so it was just me and Roland. Thankfully I have my mother and friends to help watch him now when I need to work, that's partially the reason I moved to this part of New York, to be closer to people I care about."

She nods, understanding him, because just before Daniel's death all those years ago, she was days from moving half way across the country to Florida to be near to his family. But then her husband died and those plans never happened.

"Your accent, it's English, do share Detective Locksley." Her voice comes out more seductive than she wanted and she silently curses, hoping he doesn't get the wrong end of the stick.

He laughs, "Technically, I'm English, but I was born here, then spent my childhood in England until I met my wife at University 20 years ago, she was American so we moved here soon after and being an American Citizen, I could enrol in the police academy quite easily."

His story is quite logical and she wants to know more but they're at the crime scene, already swarming with uniforms and a medical examiner.

They leave the car and hold up their badges and Regina heads straight over to the M.E., who happens to be Doctor Whale yet again. "Ah, Detective Mills, today is not your lucky day, two homicides before 9am!"

Robin is stood behind her, eyebrows raised, "Two homicides? I only see one body?"

Victor laughs, "Regina's already been to one murder today, come to think of it, two if you count Gold getting his head blown off right next to you", he peers closely at her, "Did you change your shirt detective?"

She rolls her eyes because like always the man is being too perceptive and it's slightly disturbing how much he notices. "I did change my shirt because of the inconsiderate person who shot Gold managed to cover me with blood in the process, now enough about that, what do we have here?"

Dr Whale mentions something about a female, mid to late 30's, most likely died from head trauma but he needed to complete the autopsy to be sure.

Robin pats him on the shoulder, "Get to it then mate, the sooner we get an I.D. the sooner we can work out what happened." Regina finds herself smirking at Victor, who looks entirely unimpressed with her new partner.

"Regina, shall we head back up to the precinct whilst we wait for a positive I.D.?"

She nods and leaves, happy that the case seems so simple but then cursing silently because whenever something seems simple, it's not.

It's only then a feeling of unease washes over her, the kind of unease she hasn't felt for almost four years. She finds herself looking back over her shoulder as she climbs into the driver's seat. Regina stares out of the window until her new partner speaks.

"You know, if you're tired, I don't mind driving, it seems like you've had quite the day already."

She shakes her head, "I'm fine really, I'm not tired, I just had this feeling…never mind." Robin doesn't need to know anything about her past and she wants it to stay that way, she doesn't need anyone else getting hurt because of her.

"Alright then, fancy some breakfast, seeing as you had an early start?"

For the first time since they met Regina smiles genuinely at her new partner because he is a good guy just like Ruby said, "Breakfast sounds good. I didn't have time to grab any earlier."

…

They drive to a familiar diner that Regina has frequented over the years to the extent the owners often have her order hidden away and ready to go whenever they see she's in the neighbourhood.

"Good choice Detective." She says with a nod.

He shrugs, "My son likes the pancakes here."

Regina feels her chest tighten, _so did mine,_ she thinks. She smiles anyway, "They're good pancakes. I like the apple ones."

Robin laughs, "My son loves them! I can't understand the allure in all honesty."

So they have breakfast and somehow avoid any further conversation about their kids and dead fiancé's and wives and all the rest of the things she knows could turn the conversation dark in a second.

Then there's a call from Whale, who tells her the woman had not actually been murdered, CCTV shows her falling backwards down a flight of stairs then slipping into the river. She had drown, and the family informed by uniforms. "Case closed", he tells her, and she can almost see his disgusting grin in her mind.

"Thanks for informing us Doctor." She puts down the phone and relays the story the Detective Locksley who listens solemnly.

"At least we don't have to fill in much paperwork now." He says.

Regina laughs, "Is that all it comes down to with you, whether or not there's going to be some writing at the end of the investigation?"

He thinks, "Of course, I can't stand the paperwork, that's why I like working with a partner, usually I can use my powers of persuasion to get them to do most of it."

Regina holds out her fork, pancake speared on the end, "Well I'm telling you now, there's no way I'm doing yours too, your powers of persuasion won't work Locksley."

She finds herself smiling then because she's not so sure. His dimples are awfully cute.

* * *

 _Four years he's been hiding and waiting for this day to happen, for his favourite detective to get a new partner. In fact, he can't believe his luck._

 _The last time they met, just after the last one was killed she spat insults at him, told him he would never hurt anyone she cared about ever again. "I'll never have a partner for you to target ever again, you hear me!"_

 _And yes, he had heard her, but one can only be the lone wolf for so long and he knows that four years later, he is just a thought at the back of her mind. She doesn't sleep with all the lights on at night, or with armed officers outside of her house. She doesn't use a different route to work every day or only leave the office when it's light outside._

 _She's made it so much easier, he thinks, and she doesn't even realise._

 _Regina looks so happy in that diner, eating the pancakes she so rarely ordered these days and he can't help but picture her face when she realises that her nightmare has returned once again._

 _It'll be soon._

 _She will never see this one coming, he thinks, and she'll not live to see the end of the story._

* * *

 ** _Thank you to anyone that's given the first chapter a chance, here's the second one. I know these first few chapter's are 90% backstory but I find that if you want to write something sustainable, there needs to be some reason for things happening._**

 ** _Once again, leave some reviews with some positives or criticism, I really don't mind._**

 ** _Also, I haven't quite decided who this mysterious stranger is in terms of OUAT character, so maybe you could help me out. Obviously it's a man and obviously not any of the characters introduced already (Or could it be?;)) I really don't know!_**

 ** _xo_**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

They've been working together for almost 3 months now and surprisingly, Regina doesn't feel the need to rip out her hair or spend an extra hour each evening at the shooting range. Robin is the most tolerable of anyone she's worked with in the past four years.

Emma was too talkative. Killian too busy trying to seduce her to get the job done properly. Booth spent too much time complaining about his childhood. Nolan was the best out of them, but even he began to grow tiresome when he met Officer Blanchard, Regina was in no doubt that sometime in the next few months they would marry and start a family.

They have their moments though.

Like when she wanted to head home on time but Locksley insisted on taking a case, claiming it would take no longer than a few minutes. They'd arrived at the scene and found themselves in the middle of a gang war, bullets flying everywhere. The paperwork was horrendous.

The only time she truly wanted to go to the captain and beg to work on her own again was when _he stood in front of her_ whilst they were being showered with bullets. Neither of them got shot but Regina didn't speak to him for the rest of the day and when he eventually coaxed out of her what was the matter, he laughed and said he didn't realise he was doing it. _I don't think I'll be taking a bullet for anyone Regina, my actions were not intentional._ But somehow, she really didn't believe him.

So when they're sat in the car with to go coffees waiting for any type of call out, Regina is quite content.

"You're not so bad you know." She finally tells him, before taking a sip of her black coffee.

He shrugs, "I know, you're not too bad yourself, except when you won't let me drive. I find that rather insulting."

She's chuckling at that because more than anything in the world she wants to trust someone else driving. But she doesn't, and even now there's no way she feels comfortable enough to tell him why.

Her phone rings then, saving her from the awkward conversation that was to follow Robin's comment.

She picks it up on the second ring, "Mills." She states coolly into the mobile.

It's Nolan and he's already on scene with Booth. "Sorry to bother you with this Regina but we have two witnesses willing to cooperate but they're Colombian and well, my high school Spanish isn't too great…"

Great.

She huffs into her phone. "Fine, we'll be there in 20, but I take the statement and leave, Robin and I have our own cases to take." Regina hangs up without saying goodbye.

Locksley is looking at her curiously, "I have two questions; why are you doing Nolan's job for him and also, I don't remember having a case?

She continues the conversation as she drives, "To answer the first question, I speak Spanish, Nolan barely speaks English. I made up the case thing so they'll feel bad and buy me breakfast tomorrow."

"You're a woman of surprises Detective Mills." Robin says as he finishes his coffee.

She laughs at this, "Oh believe me you don't know the half of it."

…

The two women at the scene are huddled next to Nolan's car, whilst Booth tries in vain to converse will them in broken Spanish.

He only stops when Regina cuts in. "Let me guess August, you took French in high school because the teacher was hot?"

Booth backs away from the women, "Of course, you know me so well Detective", he gestures to the women, "If only we all could possess the linguistic talents of Regina Mills."

Regina _wants_ to show him the finger, but there's witnesses and a job to be done.

"Soy el Detective Mills, estoy aquí para tomar sus declaraciones." The women nod as they understand and quickly tell her wat she needs to know. It turns out they're tourists and only came across the body when they got lost on their way to find a restaurant.

Regina thanks them and directs them to the restaurant, "Gracias por su ayuda."

She finally turns around with a satisfied smirk, only to find Robin across the other side of the tape, staring intently at the body, a strange expression playing on his features. "Locksley?" Regina asks.

He looks to her then back to the body, the strange expression never leaving his features.

"I…don't want to sound odd here, but this woman looks exactly like you, even the clothing, it's something you'd wear." It's perfectly innocent for him to say this and anyone else would laugh it off but Regina finds herself taking a look herself, trying to mask the horror she feels inside.

She's fully aware of the last time bodies began to turn up looking exactly as she did and there's a tiny part of her that knows already the dangers still to come. And _yes_ , she thinks, _this woman could be her._

The medical examiner is already packing up but she stops him, "Was anything left at the scene?" She asks, hoping and praying she's wrong.

The M.E. looks confused but hands her an evidence bag, "Yes, there was a ribbon tied around her wrist."

It's all she needs to hear to know she's not being paranoid. She hands the bag back quickly to the doctor, then practically runs into Robin in the haste to get to her car. "We need to leave. Now. The captain needs to know something and I need to make a call."

She's already seated when he finally opens the door and gets in and the car is moving before he can even ask any more questions.

"Who do you need to call?" he asks.

Regina thinks for a long second, knowing that her past is on the verge of coming back to haunt her "The FBI", she says, "They need to know that a serial killer has remerged."

…

There's not a commotion when she rushes into the Captains office, the woman simply looks at her over the reading glasses perched upon her nose and nods.

The glasses leave her face as she puts the file she was reading down. "Shut the door Regina."

There's an odd silence as Regina struggles with what exactly to say. "The crime scene Nolan got called to, the victim had a ribbon around her wrist," she's fearful to say the next part of her sentence, "I think he's back."

Captain Lucas nods, "Ok. I need you to stay calm. I'm going to phone my friends in Florida, get a patrol car outside Henry's house, far enough away they're not disturbed. Then I'm going to phone the FBI, tell them there's a chance they'll be needed."

"What can I do?" Regina whispers, knowing full well if she spoke any louder her voice would waver.

Her Captain stands then, "You can keep doing your job. You know full well this guy thrives on causing chaos, and for all we know, it could just be a copycat," She pauses and looks out of the window of the office, "I'm not sure what you've told Locksley but stay close to him."

Regina nods slowly and leaves the office.

When she reaches her desk, Robin is typing up a report and completely oblivious to her distress and some part of her is desperate for him to ask her wat's going on but another part of her just wants him to stay out of it all.

Her partner interrupts her by pushing his coffee onto her desk, "Here, you look like you need it more than I do." And Regina doesn't know whether to be insulted or grateful but she sips the drink anyway. She thinks the conversations over until he stops tying again. "I was going to ask you out for a drink tonight after shift but my friend's too busy to watch Roland, I thought you might like to come round to my place for some dinner instead."

"Wha—at?"

"Dinner. At my apartment, surely you're familiar with the act of cooking for someone else Detective Mills." He's teasing her.

The Captains' words ring in her head about keeping Robin close, especially with all that's going on and obviously having dinner with her co-worker is probably not what the woman means. She remembers the last time she'd had a partner, or rather the last time she had dinner with one.

A week later, they were dead. There's something about this man though, her new partner, that makes her feel safe, the kind of safe she hasn't felt for a while, so she smiles. "Sure. What time?"

Robin's eyes light up so much they're practically sparkling, "Perhaps straight after we finish tonight, around 7? You could follow my car to the house then, so you don't get lost."

She rolls her eyes, "I've lived in this area since I was a child Detective and I highly doubt I'd get lost but I'll go along with it anyway."

Then Robin is called away to help Booth sort something out and she doesn't see him until the clock strikes 7. He holds the door for her as they both exit the building towards their cars.

If she was on her own, Regina may have noticed the man stood only a few metres away staring at her.

* * *

 _He blends in well enough. A hat and a jacket and a face nobody would ever pick out in a line up. That's why he can walk into the precinct that evening, Regina and her new partner so close he can smell them._

 _Well, he can smell Regina, and he knows it won't be too long until they meet once again. But there's other things he must do before then, starting with the small package in his pocket._

 _Inside the envelope is something he knows she will love. She'll know it's from him too, know that he's always thinking about her._

 _There's a moment of quiet in the precinct and the officer on the front desk heads to the back for a second. That's all the time he needs to place the gift in the box he knows is delivered to the homicide unit upstairs every morning at 9am._

 _He can't wait to see her face when she looks inside._

* * *

 ** _Thank you for your support with this. As usual, please review and give me some feedback. This story is planned to the extent I sort of know where it's going, but any ideas are accepted. Again, I still don't know who the evil serial killer is, I have a list and would be grateful for any further suggestions you might have._**

 ** _xo_**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

On the short walk from her car to the precinct the next morning, Regina is humming.

The dinner the night before had cheered her up more than she would have ever realised. Robin's son was adorable. Little Roland, who's four and he had told her that fact so proudly, chest puffed out…

" _My daddy said you're his partner, what does that mean?" The little boy was sat entirely too close to her, dinosaur in hand as he questioned her tirelessly._

" _It means that we work together all day sweetheart." Regina tells him and they're interrupted then as Robin appears from the kitchen with juice for Roland and coke for her._

 _When he disappears back around the other side of the wall the little boy leans in to Regina and whispers something. "I think my daddy likes you a lot, he talks about you all the time, and he's never brought a lady to the house before!"_

 _Regina raises her eyebrows at that, wondering if the dinner is as innocent as first appears._

 _They eat a simple meal of lasagne and even though it's nowhere near the standard of her own cooking, she thinks it's tasty. Roland agrees, bouncing happily in his chair._

 _The little boy bounces even more when Robin produces chocolate cake and within half an hour, he's covered in the cake._

 _Regina smiles then and looks to Robin, "I think your son needs a bath and I think I need to get home, my bed is calling me, and I've had a long day!"_

 _Robin accepts this and sees her out, "Text me when you're home." He says and then the door is closed._

 _It's sweet that he wants her to text him, and she does text just to appease him so he'll sleep that night. She hardly sleeps herself though, in full knowledge of who may be after her._

…

Swan is already in the office that morning, sniffing miserably and so is Jones, his sadness still apparent to anyone with half a brain cell.

Regina nods to both as she hurries to the Captain's office, determined to find out what the hell is going on.

Lucas gets straight to the point, "Henry's safe Mills, don't worry about him. The FBI have been informed, but they can't really do anything until they work out whether this is a copycat or not, they said someone will be down to liaise within the next couple of days."

Regina sighs, "I just can't help worrying about this Captain, this man is dangerous and a psychopath, he'll keep on killing if he's given the chance." There's no point arguing about it though, so she leaves the office and settles at her desk.

Swan and Jones are talking quietly at their conjoined desks because they've been working in homicide for almost 6 years and remember the last time women had turned up looking like Regina. They know about Henry and how she sees him only twice a year. No birthdays or Christmas's; that's too dangerous. Instead she visits him at odd times, her trips short enough to be passed off as nothing to anyone curious enough to ask. They know about Daniel and they know about the last partner she had.

There's silence in the office though because they both know Regina well enough to stay out of her business until she asks for help.

Robin strolls in ten minutes later grinning like an idiot.

"What's got you smiling Locksley?" Regina asks, still typing an email.

Robin sits down, "Being in your company is reason enough for anybody to be positively ecstatic Regina didn't you know," and he pauses just to see the venomous look on her face before carrying on, "If you must know, Roland introduced me to his girlfriend at the preschool and he was deadly serious."

Regina scoffs, "He's much too young to be having girlfriends!"

"I'm sure your lad has had plenty!"

She stops typing.

The seconds tick by slowly and Regina can see in the corner of her eye that Emma and Killian have stopped their conversation mid-sentence and are staring at both her and Robin, a look of horror on their faces as if expecting Regina to cry or scream or slap her partner for talking about Henry.

 _I'm sure Henry does has lots of girls after him,_ she thinks before taking a controlled breath and smiling over to Robin, "I'm sure he's popular with the ladies."

She resumes her email and the tension that appeared in the office only seconds before dissipates into nothing.

The morning is relatively quiet after that, the only commotions being when August appears sporting a new tattoo- a small Pinocchio inked on his lower leg- and Regina feels the corner of her mouth turn into a smile but doesn't comment. Then David appears half an hour late for shift and Regina is close enough to the Captains office to hear his excuse; his girlfriend got really bad morning sickness and needed him. Regina smiles even more then because she'd seen that coming for a long time.

By 9am all the detectives are seated and Ruby appears with the post. A letter is flung in her direction, followed by a small parcel.

Regina ignores the letter, knowing full well it's her fortnightly update on her son. She'll read that later in private.

The parcel is odd though and before she even starts to open it, she's turning it over in her hands. It's addressed simply to Detective Mills and the precinct address is absent. There's no postage stamp or return address. She shakes it but there's no sound, but due to the bulk of the package, there's obviously something in there.

She sighs then peels back the adhesive that holds it closed and when she reaches inside, a small box fits into her grasp.

When she finally gets a good look in the light she realises that it's for jewellery and thinking that it must be a gift from Henry, Regina pulls off the lid.

She recognises the contents immediately, feels the vomit burning in her throat almost as quickly and hears the sound of her chair scrapping back against the ground as the box leaves her grasp and the contents comes lose, the ring bouncing against the cold floor once before settling on the ground.

Regina's running then, all the way to the toilet and not stopping until her hands hit the rim of the bowl and she feels her stomach emptying as she heaves in disgust. _The ring, Daniel's ring, he had it all this time._ She heaves once more as the world around her blurs into nothing.

…

The next time she's aware of anything around her is when Robin's face comes swimming into view. His mouth is moving but the words are silent.

"REGINA!" He finally yells as his hand reaches for her arm and rests there. He says nothing more until her breathing relaxes and she meets his eyes, his very blue and very concerned eyes.

"Don't touch the box."

Robin breaths out in relief as Regina's words begin to make sense. "Does it need bagging?"

She can only nod as he hurries back to the office. Regina thinks she hears him yelling at Jones to bag it. Swan asks if she's ok, but Robin doesn't answer because he's already kneeling before her again as soon as the question is asked.

"Regina?" He asks and this time it's more of a question, "Are you alright?"

 _No, there's a serial killer stalking me with the ring my dead fiancé gave me that he removed from my neck as my previous partner lay dead next to me._ She doesn't say this, only nods and struggles to her feet.

He doesn't ask her anything again until the sick is gone from her mouth and she's drying her hands with some towel, an impassive look now drawn upon her features. Robin thinks of her seconds before because she doesn't look like someone who had just vomited into the toilets so hard she passed out.

"Are you going back out there?"

She nods, and now he can see anger playing on her features, her dark eyes furious and free of tears. "I need to see the note."

"I'm not sure there was one." He answers, only to have Regina laugh darkly.

"There's a note. He always leaves a note." She replies, a bitter tone to her voice.

They leave the bathroom and as soon as she reaches the squad room, Regina reaches for the gloves she keeps in her top draw, snapping them on quickly. She glances quickly as Emma, who's got the box in her hand, a layer of plastic bag separating her palm and the evidence.

"Do you have the note?"

Before Emma even reaches into the bag, Regina can already tell this isn't the typical message they would get. It's not going to be an essay written on paper. No. Instead a small ribbon lands in her hand, small print visible.

 _Soon._

Four letters and as powerful as any four page essay there could have been.

Captain looks appears then, "Regina?"

The detective looks up. "He's coming after me."

"He's been coming after you for years." The older woman replies, trying to calm the situation but Regina just shakes her head.

"No. He's coming after me now. I'm next."

Then the ribbon slips from her grasp, floating slowly to the ground.

* * *

 _He's waiting outside the building that night, knowing her schedule for a Tuesday well._

 _Every other Tuesday she leaves the precinct and heads to the small diner a few blocks away to read the letters sent to her. Tonight is different because as the minutes tick by and there's no Regina in sight, he knows that she'd got his gift._

 _Like before, she'll stay the night there, lying awake in the dark wondering where and when she was going to die. The new partner, the one that smiles too much and looks at his Regina in a way he doesn't like, is probably comforting her. Promising her that she would be safe._

 _The rest of the unit are probably sat in silence, being filled in on the situation by the old bag he knows sits in her office all day and orders them about._

 _It's exactly the same as before, only this time, it won't be over in hours, instead it will take weeks. Patience over the years will be rewarded with a much slower and more enjoyable death than before._

 _When he eventually gets to her, he'll make her watch the execution of her partner like before, maybe even force her to do it herself._

 _But for now, it's a waiting game because even though she'll sleep there tonight, there'll be a time when all eyes are diverted and Regina finds herself alone._

 _Then his real mission can begin…_

* * *

 ** _Hi! Thank you for your support with this story. At the minute I'm getting a lot of ideas and I think I've finally settled on a OUAT character to be the killer. Once I decided on the reasoning for the vendetta against Regina, it sort of made sense that it's this character. There will be some AU changes to his canon persona, but that's about it. Once again if you like this, please keep reading and reviewing and if you don't like it so much, leave a comment- I don't mind criticism if it improves my writing._**

 ** _xo_**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The office is silent as midnight approaches, yet most of the unit are still at work. Booth and Jones have left to collect the old case files from storage. Emma is reading the file on the most recent murder, offering a fresh pair of eyes to a case which seemed to offer no sort of clue to Regina. David is at home with his girlfriend, but left with the promise of speaking to an old friend from Los Angeles about a similar case they had there a few years ago.

Robin is just sat there, not knowing what to do or say because Regina has a look of terror on her face, though she tries hard to disguise it when she catches him staring. She'd spent most of the day explaining the situation to the unit, minus Jones and Swan who already knew. It broke his heart when he learnt that her son was miles away and hadn't lived with her in four years and he silently cursed himself for all the times he brought her child up in conversation.

His thoughts are interrupted as she speaks for the first time in what seems like hours. "You can leave you know, get home to Roland."

It's a suggestion that she hopes he doesn't agree to but not asking would be so very selfish.

Robin smiles sadly, "He's with his grandmother and about to board a plane to England, I figured with what you told me about…your last partner it would be a good idea"

God she hates herself for dragging him into this, "I'm so sorry Robin, I didn't mean for this to happen."

"Nonsense, the trip was planned months ago, only they've gone a few days earlier than planned. I'm sure my cousins will be thrilled to have some extra time with them!"

He leaves it for a few minutes before speaking again, "Your boy, is he safe?"

She smiles then, a watery pathetic kind of smile that doesn't reach her eyes, "Henry's in some kind of safe house in an undisclosed location according to the FBI liaison team, and he'll stay there until this is all over."

The way she say the last part of her sentence is worrying. Robin begins to wonder just what exactly the kind of ending she's expecting.

That ends the conversation and Regina finally opens the file that's lay unopened on her desk for the past hour because she isn't ready to relive the most horrifying day of her life.

…

 _It's just turned 9pm and Regina finally leaves the precinct, breathing in the night air as if it's refreshing, which it is to someone who has spent the past 9 hours in an office._

 _Graham is close behind, close enough to grab her arm as she goes to walk in the opposite direction to the parking lot. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"_

 _She laughs then, because ever since girls matching her description started showing up a few months earlier, her partner has been nothing but insufferable in making sure she's safe. It's more than a little annoying and of course she's scared that the guy is going to come after her but at that precise moment after a late shift, it seems more than a little unlikely._

" _Henry is at his friend's house not so far from here and my car's in the shop, I was going to walk there then call a cab home."_

 _Graham looks at her like she's crazy, "Regina, you're not walking there, orders from the captain, now get in my car."_

 _Regina knows she's not going to win a battle against her partner so gives up, "Fine, the house is only a five minute journey by car anyway."_

 _So she gets in Graham's almost new Sedan, oblivious to the car behind that follows closely after, the car two days later she finds out is stolen from another victim, who happens to be brunette with an olive complexion and dark eyes._

 _It's only a few minutes into the journey when the engine starts to splutter and to Graham, a man who knows nothing about cars, this means pressing the accelerator more forcefully, and peering down at his feet._

" _Graham will you watch the road." Regina snaps, because she doesn't know then the reason the car is failing right then even though the report later claims it had been tampered with._

 _Her partner does watch the road then, just long enough for a car to appear out of nowhere in front of them, causing them to swerve off the road and into the nearest object; a concrete wall._

… _and that's all she remembers until she finds herself sprawled on the road, painted in red and grimacing in pain._

 _Graham is lying metres away and it's only then it becomes apparent that neither of them had been ejected from the car. Someone had dragged them from the wreck. She catches Graham's eye then, as he tries desperately to pull himself up, fear so obvious in his eyes._

 _A dark shadow appears above her. "Hello Detective."_

 _The voice is so dark and quiet that Regina's blood chills at just those two words._

" _I've been waiting for so long now, waiting to finally get to speak to you again." Again. That will always haunt her, because they'd met before._

 _The only sound then is Graham screaming for the man to get away from her. Then there's laughing as the shadow steps over her and towards her partner who spends the next five minutes writhing at pain as knives cut into him, screaming and screaming until eventually it just stops, the knife drawn across his throat, pulled sharp enough that a warm spatter of liquid lands on her face._

 _Just like that, her partner is dead and the man is back, leaning over her, so close she can feel his warm breath... "I want you to suffer for a little while longer Regina, just like I did. I want you to live in fear for your own life and the life of your son. I want you to wake up every morning and wonder if today's the day you finally meet your end." He stops and slides the blood covered knife across her stomach, just hard enough for the skin to split. "I want you to die already dead."_

 _The last words make no sense and she finds herself so angry then and in her statements after she tells the detectives that she told him she would never have another partner to get hurt._

 _Then her eyes fall shut, feeling only the small band she wore around her neck ripped away before everything became nothing…_

…

"Regina?"

She looks up and finds Killian and August have returned. Robin is holding out a coffee to her, with another for himself placed on the desk, "Here, its black no sugar, like you have it."

He's such a good partner, such a good detective, after all, he was the one who spotted the pattern again to begin with, yet Regina can't help but shake her head at the man. "Robin, please, go get some rest, it's not fair to drag you into this all night."

He shrugs, "Regina, if staying here for a few more hours means working something out then I don't care how tired I am."

Regina leaves it then, seeing the stubbornness she too possesses.

"Why the ribbon?" Robin asks then.

Swan looks up from her own file, "That's what we don't get, a ribbon isn't associated with the wrist, it's for the hair, no profilers have a clue about the context."

Robin thinks for a second as the framed photo of a young Marian comes to mind. She's only twelve on the picture, the picture given to him after her death by his wife's grieving parents, and she's wearing a ribbon in her hair…and around her wrist.

It's as if Regina sees him thinking, "What is it?"

"This isn't related to the case in any way but I have a picture of my late wife of when she was a child and there's a ribbon around her wrist on the picture."

His partner's eyes light up then, the thought of the first break in the case for years on her mind.

"I asked her mother what the ribbon was all about, I thought it peculiar and she told me that when Marian was a child, she and her friends would use ribbons as a sort of friendship bracelet, Marian and her sister both wore a ribbon around their wrists for months until they got bored and moved onto bracelets."

Jones plants his hands on the desk, a look of realisation playing on his features as he opens the files, each one showing the victim with a small red ribbon around their wrist. "We've been profiling this guy all wrong, I think he's much younger than forty."

Regina nods, "The childishness of the ribbon suggests a much younger killer, we're looking at mid-twenties at the most."

"How many cases involving children have you dealt with during the past 15 years Regina?"

She gives him a look, one full of hopelessness, "Thousands."…and that's true because before working in homicide and dealing with murders of both children and adults on a daily basis, she was an officer assigned to specific child related crimes.

After she explains the situation, Robin just nods. "Well then, we just need to narrow down the possibilities, once Ruby arrives in the morning, she can get started on the database trying to find some matches." He stops and throws his empty cup into the trash. "It's 2am, I say we stop for the night."

There's movement in the room as everyone nods in agreement, including Regina. "I can't go back to my house though."

"I know, you're staying here, with me, we have a room full of beds for a reason."

She sighs, because she doesn't want to be the reason Robin doesn't get to go home tonight but he's not giving her a choice. Emma, Jones and Booth all wave goodnight and Robin shouts for them to take care.

Then it's just them. Alone.

Regina breaks the silence first. "They're fine you know, no doubt they'll all come into work hungover tomorrow."

"It's not them I'm worried about." Robin says, before holding out his hand to Regina, "Detective Mills, I say we both get some sleep."

She takes his hand, eyebrows raised, "Together?"

Even with the dire situation at play, she can't help but tease Robin, who reddens and apologised, telling her that's not at all what he meant.

"I know, come on, let's go get some sleep, Ruby will be here in a few hours, we can't do anything until then."

* * *

 _He doubts she's careless enough to leave and go home that night but he can't help but wait outside the building until the office upstairs finally goes dark and people leave. Detective Swan, Jones and Booth all leave._

 _The new one, Detective Locksley is missing and there's no doubt he's upstairs with Regina._

 _He imagines the man watching her sleep, gun loaded, just waiting for someone to try and hurt her but he's not that stupid and there's always a way to get someone, even with a 24 hour bodyguard._

 _It's something he's planned for, knowing that the man's failure to protect Detective Mills will haunt him until the end of his days. Or maybe he'll already be dead by the time he gets to her. Or maybe he'll still be alive, just long enough to see his partner destroyed before meeting the end himself…_

* * *

 ** _As I already had the chapter written, I thought I might as well update. Can anyone guess who the killer is yet? As I said before, the dynamics of this person have slightly changed but when I get to the climax of the story, I suspect he will become slightly less AU._**

 ** _Please read and review and spread the word about this story anyway you want to, I'd love for as many OUAT fans as possible to take a read._**

 ** _xo_**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

She's not sure how exactly she managed it, but when Regina next opens her eyes it's 8am and light out. She can hear the sound of the coffee machine coming to life and imagines Captain Lucas is making her usual morning drink.

There's the sound of soft breathing and when Regina sits up straight, she sees that Robin is still out cold, clearly exhausted from the night before. He's replaced his shirt with a much more comfortable police issued tee and his trousers with some sweatpants and she doesn't blame him, sleeping in yesterday's clothes wasn't fun. There's no reason to wake him so she slips out of the closed door and into the main office, now basked in the early morning light.

"Regina!"

It's Ruby and the detective can't help but be taken by surprise at the woman actually arriving at work before 9am, it's practically unheard of. There's a bag in Ruby's grasp and by the looks of it, full to the brim.

When she finally passes the bag over to Regina, there's a guilty look in her eyes. "Don't get mad but Captain Lucas made me steal your house keys and go get you some clean stuff to wear, and your make up and toothbrush too."

She wants to hug the profiler, but holds back, worry suddenly plaguing her. "Please tell me you didn't go on your own?"

Ruby shakes her head, "Nope. David picked me up on his way over this morning, he said he had some things to discuss with the Captain before shift started."

Sure enough, Detective Nolan is deep in conversation in Lucas' office, the door shut just enough to make it private.

Ruby perches on the edge of her desk, "So, where's Locksley, I heard from my grandma you have some actual profiling for me to do today?

 _Oh yes,_ Regina thinks. More often than not she forgot that the young sketch artist/profiler they employed was the granddaughter of their commanding officer. Nevertheless, it was a job gained on merit rather than nepotism, as the young woman had turned down opportunities given by both the FBI and CIA to join their ranks, choosing to fill the vacant spot in the homicide unit in the city she'd grown up in.

"He's sleeping in there," she gestures the small 'on call' room they had that housed four beds and a small bathroom equipped with a shower, "I wouldn't bother waking him yet though, I need to take a shower and change before we can even start work."

Ruby just nods, "Ok, I'm going to head out for some decent coffee for everyone, I had a text from Emma at 3am and she seemed slightly drunk, so I'm guessing she'll need some too."

…

Whilst she's showering, Regina still can't switch off about the case. Years of stalking, threats and deaths finally coming to an end in the least preferable way and there's no way she wants to die, but sometimes not dying seems worse. Selfish even.

She thinks about what could happen if this person doesn't get what they want, who he will target. There's Ruby, young enough to get her ID checked when she wants to buy alcohol. She's smart but doesn't even carry a weapon.

Then there's David. Regina thinks about the killer getting to him, leaving his new wife widowed and their soon to be baby without a father.

August who lives life to the fullest yet still spends his weekends working at his father's shop, crafting wooden furniture. She thinks it would kill the man to see his only son gone.

Even Killian who jokes and flirts and spends longer bragging about his latest venture rather than do his paperwork doesn't deserve to be caught up in this.

Regina can't help the dread build up when she thinks about Emma becoming this man's next victim. The blonde joining homicide seven years ago and never looking back, putting up with Regina when Daniel died and getting her drunk when Henry had to leave.

When it comes to Robin, she can't even think about him getting hurt without the taste of bile in her mouth. His little boy, only four, left orphaned in the world because of her.

Selfish.

But she won't be selfish and if the time comes and someone gets hurt, she won't hesitate to let this killers twisted idea of justice get served, even if she dies…

The water starts to run cold and she steps out of the shower, dressing in the clothes Ruby brought in and drying her hair quickly.

She's not surprised when she goes back to the bed she slept on the night before to collect the blanket that Robin is absent, most likely gone home to change and shower himself.

The squad room is full when she reappears, minus Robin.

Emma holds a coffee up in her direction. "He said he'll be back in twenty Regina and just start without him."

She takes the coffee and sits and at some point she feels a warmth slot in beside her as her partner reappears, hair still damp, but clean and ready to work.

"So the new profile I've drawn up quickly in the past thirty minutes is a white male, mid-twenties. That's it. I need other things." Ruby who is always so resourceful and ready to profile the hell out of anyone is well and truly stumped already.

Emma pushes her file in the woman's direction, "We believe him to be emotionally traumatised by something that happened within the last 15 years, presumably to his sister or a female he was close with—."

Killian nods, "This emotional trauma is linked to one of Regina's past cases. Look for any involving female homicide victims aged between 8 and 15 that Mill's dealt with during her time as a liaison to children's services and as a homicide detective."

"Look for any cases where older brothers or male friends gave statements to the police, in particular any statements Regina took. This guy knows her by name so they must have spoken at some point."

Ruby nods, scribbling down. "Right I have something to go on, I'll check at the databases now", she pauses and turns to Regina, "Anything to add Detective?"

There's a silence as Regina thinks of anything else that could be useful, before settling on one thought that has been plaguing her mind since the day before, since she received the gift.

"Yes. After you find your information, narrow down the time frame to pre 2004 and look for any cases which I and Daniel Morani worked together on involving children, I'd like copies of them all."

Captain Lucas looks at her curiously, "Regina. You don't think-."

Regina cuts her off, "I don't know yet, they never found out who killed him, maybe I'm the reason my fiancé died too just to make everything so much better."

"Don't be ridiculous, even if this guy did kill him, why would it be your fault?" Emma asks, as if it's something so stupid it can't even be considered.

But Regina knows deep down that if she hadn't argued with him, told him to leave for a while and give her some space, then he might not have…died.

* * *

 _The adoption is happening and when Regina finds out that in two weeks they'll have the baby they'd wanted so desperately for the past few years, she can't contain her excitement._

 _Daniel is excited too, but there's something in his face, something that has always worried her and two weeks before they get their son, Regina asks him._

" _Are you sure this is what you want Daniel?"_

 _Her fiancé looks up to her, the wooden crib around him yet to even come together, "Of course I do my darling, it's just strange knowing this baby is already out there somewhere, and we don't get to have him for another two weeks."_

 _Regina feels hurt flare up inside her chest then. "Not this baby. He's our baby. Our son."_

" _Not by blood though." The words leave his mouth before he can stop them and Regina's eyes instantly darken. "You know I would do anything to be able to have your children, you know why that will never happen. I thought we wanted this."_

 _He's on his feet then, "I do want this Regina and I love you more than my own life, but this is life changing, I need to get my head around it all before the baby comes home."_

 _She doesn't know why she tells him to go get some air, to leave the house so she can think herself, but he leaves, promising to be back in an hour before it gets too dark out._

 _I love you Regina, he says then._

 _She doesn't say it back out loud but in her head, it's on repeat. She wishes she had uttered those words one last time to him._

 _An hour passes, then two, three, four…after then it just blur. She doesn't sleep and when the knock on her door comes at 2am and on the other side are two officers she knows looking uncomfortable, Regina knows in her heart that he's dead._

 _The events surrounding his death become apparent a few days later. They don't let her see the body and no amount of pleading makes the medical examiner reconsider. He's been murdered, the knife cutting so deeply into his throat she hears a rookie cop, who doesn't know that Daniel was an officer make an offhand comment._

 _Off with his head. Work of a mad hatter._

 _Yet the 'mad hatter' is never caught and no similar cases ever come up. The case lies cold for years, unsolved and forgotten._

 _When she calls the adoption agency a few days later, tells them of the death, they're apprehensive for it to happen. She persuades them though and three weeks later, a slightly longer wait than expected, Henry is thrust into her arms._

 _Henry Daniel Mills. He takes her surname. She's too terrified to tempt fate._

* * *

It's almost nightfall again when Robin is done drawing up the full profile with Ruby. Everyone is exhausted by the time the day is over and Regina would love nothing more than to go home and get some sleep.

He collapses into the chair opposite to her making a sound she might find alluring if not for the thought of getting murdered on her mind. "I'm sorry if this is forward but why does your son have Mills for his surname?"

He's clearly seen the file surrounding the events of Graham's death, the death which resulted in her son moving a four hour plane ride away.

Regina shrugs, because nobody in the unit minus Granny knows that Henry is adopted and she's never even thought about telling anyone at work that she adopted a baby because she couldn't have her own. "It's complicated."

"How so?" He's not letting it go.

She sighs, looking around the office and seeing that it's empty carries on, "Daniel died when Henry was less than a week old, before…we got him."

"Got him?"

She nods, "Yes, Henry's adopted." If she had a camera right now, she would take a picture because Robin's face is delightful, a mixture of confusion and shock. If her infertility wasn't so difficult to think about she might have laughed at his face. "We were supposed to adopt as a couple but Daniel passed away before Henry could be brought to New York, I wanted to go through with it still and since I was a single parent adopting, Mills it was."

"Right, that's…a story." Robin is entirely unsure what to say after Regina's revelation. From the way she talked about it, it seemed like it wasn't a subject anyone ever approached, or even knew about.

An awkward minute passes as Robin thinks of anything to say that doesn't involve putting his foot in his mouth.

"Shall we go for pizza?" He finally stutters out.

She looks to see if Lucas is still around to ask as it's been made quite clear that she can't go home or anywhere alone. The older woman's still in her office, but with a plain clothed officer who Regina thinks is the FBI liaison.

"We can walk across the street and eat there, then leave a note for the Captain so she doesn't send out a search party."

Robin nods, "Is she letting you go home later?"

It's laughable that he even bothers to ask that. "No, something about a hotel and some wonderfully qualified officers to keep a look out all night." The sentence is full of sarcasm as Regina is in full knowledge that anyone that can allude detection as a serial killer for over 10 years is not going to be perturbed by two early twenties officers who have been on the job for less than a year. The idea of staying in a hotel is preferable to the precinct.

Robin holds his arm out for her to take, "Milady? Let's go get some pizza."

* * *

 _They cross the street and head over to the pizza place. The same pizza place he knows she used to frequent with the other partner with the accent. Greg or Gordon or maybe Graham. He doesn't remember asking the man for his name before killing him that night._

 _There she is, sat in a booth as the new partner excuses himself to do something. She's alone and if this was her idea of staying safe, she was doing a terrible job._

 _His feet move by themselves and soon enough the warm air of the diner hits him in the face. He steps inside._

 _When the door closes, it bangs loudly, so much so that she looks up and for a few seconds, their eyes meet. Her brown eyes wide and looking at him so intently it's like they're boring into his soul._

 _For a moment he thinks she's going to realise and he can almost see her thinking. Thinking too hard as to where she has seen him before. It's like seeing an old school friend at the grocery store and wondering if it's actually them, but by the time you come to your conclusions, the moment has passed._

 _She drops her gaze first and he sees her shake her head in the way people do when they know they're being paranoid, or think they're being paranoid._

 _Five more steps and he's so close that his jacket brushes against her arm._

 _She shivers, he's sees her do that before he takes his seat._

 _Then the partner returns and he's asking her if she'd like his jacket or something warm to drink, telling her she looks cold._

 _He's sees her nod, brown hair shimmering in the light._

 _A waitress appears then, "Are you ready to order Sir."_

 _He looks up at her, pleasantly surprised. She's brunette with dark eyes and dark skin. Like her. That's when it becomes clear his night is about to get a lot more interesting._

" _I'm ready."_

* * *

 ** _I think there's an extra 1000 words to this chapter, sometimes it's difficult to find the right place to end it. I got slightly confused when writing this because of the timeline so I had to edit it several times to get it somewhat logical. If you didn't know who the killer was already, I'd say from this chapter it's pretty obvious._**

 ** _Anyone that's come here for Outlaw Queen, do not fear, the angst is about to get here! I'm planning for this story to reach it's first 'climax' within the next two chapters and then after the outcome there may or may not be some romance.;)_**

 ** _Any comments, questions or criticism you have is gratefully accepted._**

 ** _xo_**


	7. Authors Note

**A** **uthors Note.**

 **This is an authors note so I'm very sorry to any patient readers expecting a new chapter! I'm currently part way through writing the newest chapter of Hunted. Part of the reason why it took so long was creative issues, trying to actually see where the plot was going and how I was going to achieve the outcome.**

 **Initially this was going to be about 10 chapters long and reach a conclusion, however,**

 **I'd just like to know of anyone was interested in a sequel or the story to be carried on as a sort of detective AU once the resolution to the current storyline has happened?**

 **Leave me a comment in the reviews with anything you'd like to know. If you want any answers to questions you have about the plot so far, feel free to ask and I'll get back to you and finally, just a small hint at what's to come...5 facts.**

* * *

 **Regina will not enjoy her morning coffee so much after the next few chapters, We'll learn some more about Robin regarding Marian, Becoming partners in homicide is NOT the first time Robin and Regina met, The killers motive will be revealed, Regina finds out who Henry's biological mother is.  
**


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It's the ringing of her phone the next morning that brings Regina to consciousness and she slaps wildly on the pillow next to her until the mobile is grasped in her hand and held close to her ear.

"Hello?" She says groggily.

"Good Morning Regina! I thought we were grabbing coffee before work today?" It's Robin, sounding chirpy and awake, no doubt sat in their favourite diner already.

The phone leaves her ear and panic sets in. "Shit! My alarm didn't go off, hold on, I'll be there in fifteen minutes, order me the usual."

She pulls on her clothes and runs hands through tamer hair than she expects until it looks presentable and professional. They'd stopped by her house late the previous night and grabbed most of her work clothes so that her hotel closet is full with options.

She'd spent a few hours of the phone the night before with Captain Lucas. It was decided that she would remain in the hotel for a few more days unless any further threats were made. The case was being shared with the FBI, who were now combing through the files sent over in the hopes of finding the suspect. Everything else was to go back to normal, including their cases.

Five minutes later and she's pulled up outside of the diner, the same one they visited the night before, and moving towards the entrance. She can see Robin talking with one of the waitresses, and when she eventually gets closer, she sees his hand is atop the young woman's. It's odd, because he never usually flirted on the job, but he's a man and a good looking one at that.

When Regina finally makes eye contact with Robin, he smiles, and excuses himself from the woman with two coffees in hand. She's called Charlotte, Regina remembers.

"I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up!"

Robin is as perky and bright as ever and now, as he pulls out a chair for his partner to sit on, Regina can't help but pull a face. "It's not like you were all alone, you seemed rather engrossed in conversation when I arrived."

Her comment comes out more bitchy than expected and the second she says it, she wants to take it back. Her partner is always professional and even if he was flirting, it's got nothing to do with her.

Robin tilts his head, smiling. "Is that jealousy Detective?"

"You wish."

"Do I now?" He shoots back, teasing in his tone.

The façade drops as Robin shakes his head, a worried expression playing on his features, "I'm sad to admit but I really wasn't flirting, Charlotte was just telling me that Eva never showed up for her shift this morning."

Oh.

Regina's brow knits together, "Eva's the girl with the brunette hair right? She's always here."

Robin nods, "Exactly. Ever since I joined the unit she's never missed a day. Charlotte says that she's not picking up her mobile either. I took the number, figured we could track it."

The conversation is getting entirely too dark and worrying, and Regina is trying to come up with anything that might explain why the girl hasn't turned up for her shift. "Maybe she's just sick?"

"She never went home last night, her boyfriend came in an hour ago to see if she had started already. He got back from a trip to Boston in the night and she wasn't in bed. He's gone to her sister's to check she didn't stay over there."

Regina catches a glimpse of the wall. Eva was employee of the month, the picture of her smiling brightly positioned high up. It's only then that the name matches a face, a face that is so very similar to her own. Dark hair and eyes.

The night before, she'd seen Eva touching up her make up after serving the man with the blue eyes, the one who had looked straight at her before taking a seat closest to the back. The girl had gone over to him almost immediately. Her lipstick was the same brand as Regina's. The same shade, she had noticed when the girl finally reappeared and gave his order to the kitchen…those eyes, they were so familiar-

"Regina?"

She looks back down from the picture on the wall to Robin, who is pulling on his jacket. "It's 8:30, are you ready to head across to the precinct?"

She nods, "Sure." Her coffee stays on the table, suddenly she doesn't feel so thirsty.

They're almost across the street when Robin speaks, "We're quite early so I'm going to see if we can spend some time trying to find out where Eva is. I would hate to think she's out there hurt and we knew, yet didn't do anything."

"That sounds like a good idea."

…

She's sat at her desk almost an hour later with only Emma for company. The blonde looks a little lethargic.

"Hungover?" Regina finally offers.

Emma laughs, "I wish. I'm sick. Killian and I worked a case last week where we had to interview over a dozen kids from a group home, one of them has definitely shared some germs."

Regina grimaces, glad she'd escaped that case. The last time she'd interviewed kids from a group home she'd landed in the hospital after one sneezed straight onto her face. "Can't you take a sick day?"

"Nope. I'm supposed to be working with David on some paperwork that needs to be done by tomorrow but he tripped over when he was putting up a crib yesterday and now he's concussed and at home."

She smiles at that because David Nolan, who once took down four armed men with nothing more than his hands just had to be taken down putting up a baby's crib. His fiancé, Officer Blanchard was due to give birth in less than two months and the man was already stressed.

She's about to make some witty remark when Robin hurries into the room. He looks agitated when he pushes the piece of paper towards her.

"Eva Mendez made a call last night at 11.56 to 911. I got the audio and when the operator asks her if she's ok, she tells him that her son rang by accident and there was no emergency."

Swan looks up curiously, "Don't kids do that all the time?"

Robin shakes his head, "She doesn't have a son, or any child for that matter."

"Did you get a location for the call?"

He points to the paper, "Yeah, a house not too far from here. I say we go check it out whilst everything's quiet."

Regina stands and pulls on her jacket. It was warm enough not to wear a coat, but still too chilly to go out without a jacket, "Let's go."

…

It starts to rain on the drive to the house and Regina's glad for the jacket and the shelter of the car.

"When's Roland and your mother back from their holiday?" She asks, eyes on the road, so careful with her driving as she had been for the past four years.

"They're back in 4 days I think, so Monday. He's going to spend the weekend after with Marian's family though, they're driving to their Cabin on Friday night and want to take him. I expect he'll enjoy it."

There's a strange edge to his tone when he talks about his deceased wife's parents, much like the one Regina used when talking about her own parents.

She smiles, "I'm guessing you don't get along?"

He laughs at that, "I would say that is quite the understatement. The first time I met them was straight after I kissed a woman that was not my wife, well, girlfriend at the time."

"Tut tut detective, I never saw you as being a cheater."

"Not a cheater, just a very drunk young man at some New Year's party that pretty much every officer in the city went to. Marian and I were both rather intoxicated, so we rang her father and he agreed to pick us up. Midnight came and I saw Marian grab the closest man and kiss him straight on the mouth, so I did what any silly bloke would do and grabbed the prettiest girl."

She laughs, remembering several over her New Year's kisses over the years with men who had not been her fiancé. They had all just been good fun and she'd seen Daniel do the same. It never meant anything.

"I'm sure this girl was simply thrilled at being manhandled."

She can see Robin making a face out of the corner of her eye. "I'm fairly certain she did it just to spite her own boyfriend. We snogged for a good few seconds before she pulled away laughing and made some comment."

"What did she say?"

Robin smiles, "Not bad officer. Then her boyfriend pulled her away to dance to some soppy love song, truth be told, I don't even remember kissing her, but Marian's father just happened to pull up in is car right then and caught me locking lips with someone else."

Memories of parties and kisses swim in her head then, one particular one right before Daniel proposed to her. She heard the clock chime for midnight, looked up to see her boyfriend grabbed by another woman, his face pressed against her. She'd been angry for a second before her own lips pushed against someone else's. He was a good kisser, almost as good as her boyfriend. Not bad officer she had said, pushing away from him.

Years later it was but a vague memory, but still a memory and she laughs out loud when she realises that when she met her partner for the first time three months ago, it was not exactly the first time.

"What's so funny, laughing at my idiotic behaviour as a rookie?"

"Laughing at our idiotic behaviour", she pauses and readies herself, "Not bad officer."

Robin almost jumps out of his seat with shock as realisation sets in. Regina was the girl he'd kissed all those years ago. "Bloody hell, that is…quite strange."

"I can't believe we've actually kissed before, that's just crazy."

He lets out a shaky laugh, "Nobody at the precinct can know about this, Jones or Booth with this sort of information would be catastrophic."

"Agreed."

So they leave it at that. Silence presides over them until they finally pull up in front of a house, the house where Eva had made the 911 call from.

They both leave the car and approach the front door, where Robin knocks lightly. "Police, open up." Before he can knock a second time, the door creaks open and it's obvious it's wasn't closed to begin with.

Regina shrugs and pushes it further open, "You take the downstairs, and I'll take the second floor."

He nods and draws his weapon and together they enter the house.

…

The stairs make that awful horror movie creaking sound as she ascends up. The house is quite normal though, just a little outdated more than anything but there's something about it that seems cold. In fact, there's a chill in the air as she reaches the top of the stairs as her eyes travel towards the photos decorating the walls.

The largest is the photograph of two children. There's a blonde girl and a dark haired boy. Siblings. The girl looks about 10 and the boy a little older. They're both smiling and the girl is standing high on her tip toes, her arm stretched across the boy's shoulder. The photograph is old from the way the children are clothed, a little over 10 years she suspects.

It's eerie.

She follows the rest of the photographs down the hallway until she comes to a closed door.

Regina pushes it open and when her voice finally catches up with her eyes, she gasps.

The girl from the diner is dead on the floor. The pale carpet now stained red with blood.

She's about to call for Robin, when something sharp sticks her in the neck and arms reach around to cover her mouth.

"Hello Regina." The voice says softly. Even four years later it is unmistakable. Her blood runs cold as her legs give way and she meets the ground.

His eyes are blue, she thinks.

It's her last thought…

…then everything becomes darkness, the scream frozen at her lips.

* * *

 **So sorry for the wait for this chapter. I was trying to include everything I wanted to originally. I hope you enjoy and leave reviews!  
**

 **xo**


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